It's here, it's here! No, not the final battle of the First Round -- though that's an important milestone in Lent Madness 2015. But  the matchup everyone's been talking about (or at least Tim and Scott) since the inception of the bracket: Barbie vs. Ken! The 3rd century saint vs. the 17th century English bishop and hymn writer. The winner will face Egeria and the matchups for the Saintly Sixteen will be complete. View the complete (and updated daily) bracket here.

Yesterday, South African missionary and martyr Bernard Mizecki was able to accomplish something that a dragon could not: vanquish Margaret of Antioch. With a 57% to 43% margin of victory, Bernard advances to the Saintly Sixteeen where he will square off against Jackson Kemper.

Enjoy this last matchup of the Round of 32 and gird your loins for tomorrow's start of the Saintly Sixteen as Brendan the Navigator faces Thecla.

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In the penultimate battle of the first round, we have a South African missionary and martyr taking on an early 4th century martyr from Antioch. Courage (and at least one dragon) abounds in this battle between Bernard Mizeki and Margaret of Antioch with the winner to face Jackson Kemper in the Saintly Sixteen.

Yesterday in the Battle of the Greats, Dionysius the Great proved his greatness by defeating Irene the Great, 58% to 42%. Wondering how things are progressing? Check out the updated Bracket.

And in case you missed this week's stirring edition of Monday Madness: Global Edition, Tim and Scott awarded the first ever Lent Madness Medal of Valor. Oh, and they also coined the term "Servermaggedon."

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Remember that passage in the synoptic gospels (Luke 2:24, Matthew 18:1, Mark 9:34) where the disciples start arguing about which one of them is the greatest? Jesus basically tells them to get a life (by losing it). Here at Lent Madness, however, Dionysius and Irene are battling to resolve the question once and for all. In the Battle of the Greats, Dionysius the Great takes on Irene the Great as we crank things back up for another week of saintly action. The winner will take on Brigid of Kildare.

We're glad to have the drama of Friday's server crash behind us and Lent Madness is now being hosted on a shiny new purple server using a company that understands "unlimited bandwidth" to actually mean "unlimited bandwidth." So, vote (once), comment, tell all all your friends to log on at the exact same moment and we should be fine. Thanks for collectively having the patience of a, well, saint. 

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In the final battle of a week filled with saintly thrills and spills, Balthazar squares off against Cecilia. And you, yes YOU, get to decide whether to vote against Christmas pageants or against church choirs. So good luck with that. Actually, both saints have inspired many people over the generations -- from those who love frankincense, to those who are allergic to it; from those with melodic voices to the tone deaf.

Yesterday's hotly contested battle between Egeria and Hildegard of Bingen ended with the bracket-busting Egeria edging out Hildegard by the slimmest of margins, 51% to 49%. With almost 6,800 votes cast, Egeria prevailed by less than 140. See, your (single) vote counts!

While we've had our share of nail biters over the years, this ranks up there and was the first truly close battle of Lent Madness 2015. And the comments. The comments! We set a record for most comments ever with nearly 370. Kudos to the commenters!

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Today it's Egeria vs. Hildegard of Bingen. The world's original "Mystery Worshipper" vs. a 12th century renaissance woman. Both have had a major impact upon the Christianity we have inherited, yet only one will advance to the Saintly Sixteen. We're expecting a flurry of comments on this. Let the agonizing over votes begin!

But first, speaking of comments, sometime during yesterday's battle between Jackson Kemper and Margery Kempe, we passed the 20,000 comment milestone on the Lent Madness website. That's a lot of conversation about holy people, don't you think?

Oh, and Kemper trounced Kempe 74% to 26% meaning he'll face the winner of Bernard Mizecki vs. Margaret of Antioch in the Saintly Sixteen.

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During today's battle between Jackson Kemper and Margery Kempe someone posted the 20,000th comment on the Lent Madness website. This milestone has put the SEC into a reflective mood and thus we offer the following thoughts:

1. 20,000 comments -- about saints?! It's pretty amazing that so many people have engaged their faith since we started this dedicated Lent Madness website in 2012. Sure, the advent of the internet led to an explosion of people sharing opinions in public forums and we're used to people opining about sports teams and politics. But the fact that so much thought has gone into commenting about people who have followed Jesus is still stunning.

2. Most online forums are hardly...gracious places. With rare exception, those who comment on the saintly smackdown are respectful and kind. People often share their impressions and personal experiences in touching ways. Humor and good cheer abound even amid differences of opinion. This is hardly common when it comes to open online forums -- the phrase "internet troll" is well deserved. Yet Lent Madness seems to bring out the best in people.

3. Lent Madness is a learning opportunity. Most people understand that the whole notion of saints "competing" against one another is absurd and that the real point is to learn about some amazing people. Of course brief write-ups are just scratching the saintly surface and we love it when commenters share resources with one another in order to go deeper.

4. It's self-policing. In the first year or two Scott or Tim would regularly have to jump into the commenting fray to answer questions or redirect the tone. This rarely happens now because others are quick to step in and we're grateful.

5. For the most part. Occasionally people should pause before hitting "submit" and think about whether the comment is hurtful in any way. Yes, advocate for your saint but please don't trash the other one. I mean, cultural context and all, there's good reason why all of these folks are in the bracket. If a certain saint "does nothing" for you that doesn't mean she or he hasn't inspired the person in the next cubicle.

6. Comments build community. It is through our interaction with one another -- the playful, the maddening, the informative, the prayerful -- that community is built. Yes, you are part of the Lent Madness community and it is a very real, not merely virtual, community.

7. We love lurkers. The term "lurker" isn't an insult. It refers to those who fully engage by reading and voting but never comment. Actually only a very small percentage of those who read blogs actually leave comments. This doesn't mean they don't care or aren't passionate about the topics at hand -- they're just not the commenting type. If you are a lurker, that's fine!

8. The dilemma for voters. "Should I read the comments before I vote or not?" Some participants check in throughout the day to read and reflect and only then cast their vote. Others intentionally ignore the comments in order to remain bias-free. Whatever your method, you're right!

9. If you've never commented, jump in! Everyone's first comment gets moderated -- just to make sure you're not a troll or spam -- so if it doesn't appear immediately, you'll know why. Whether profound or trivial or somewhere in between, your comments do enrich all of us. If you've been hesitant to share your thoughts publicly, go ahead and jump in! The commenting water's fine.

Whether you've left one comment or 50 over the past few years, we're grateful for your engagement and trust that the process of reading others' has been food for your Lenten journey. Onward to the next 20,000...

Kemper vs. Kempe. Sometimes matchups exist solely because the SEC likes the names involved. Sure, there's always prayerful discernment that takes place in the formation of the bracket. But still, how could we not pair these two against one another? Only a single "r" separates Jackson Kemper and Margery Kempe, missionary bishop and 15th century mystic. Who will ride on? Who will be left in a vale of tears? That, dear friends, is up to you.

Yesterday, Brigid of Kildare soundly defeated Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist 68% to 32%. Fortunately, no silver platters were involved.

In case you missed it, we offered everyone a brief peek behind the Purple Curtain of Lent Madness, sharing some insights into how the annual bracket is formulated. A rare glimpse into the mind of the SEC.

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A choice between two women today, one from 5th century Ireland and the other from Biblical times. Brigid of Kildare, whose theme song, based on her penchant for giving material possessions to the needy, may well be the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Give it Away Now" faces Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, whose theme song would presumably be that early hit known as the Hail Mary.

In yesterday's Madness, Francis of Assisi stormed to victory over John Wycliffe 66% to 34% and will face the winner of Balthazar vs. Cecilia in the next round.

In case you missed yesterday's edition of Monday Madness you can catch it here. Then readjust your Lenten priorities to insure you never again miss Tim and Scott's hard-hitting commentary.

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Who's ready for another full week of hard-hitting saintly action? Well, clearly YOU are since a) you're reading this and b) you've  been hitting "refresh" on your web browser continually since 7:50 am EST just in case the SEC erred and posted this matchup a few minutes early. 

After an entire weekend experiencing LMW (Lent Madness Withdrawal) symptoms, your balm has been delivered in the form of Francis of Assisi vs. John Wycliffe. Time to pull out the ubiquitous Wycliffe bird bath that likely graces your garden and start reading about these two medieval saints.

Speaking of birds and other creatures great and small, we hope you read the SEC's statement released over the weekend assuring the Lent Madness public that no animals were harmed in the formation of the 2015 bracket.

But enough stalling. The Madness is back. Get to it!

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Occasionally the SEC adds matchups based on little more than (deeply prayerful) whim. This isn't such a case, mind you, but we do sometimes get jazzed by things like alliteration. Thus, today it's Dorcas vs. Douglass. That has a certain saintly ring to it, don't you think? The winner faces Juan Diego in the Saintly Sixteen.

Yesterday, Cuthbert sent the Venerable Bede packing with a veritable Bede-down of his medieval contemporary, 63% to 37%. He'll next square off against Molly Brant.

Don't forget that our Bracket Czar updates the online Bracket each day. Scroll down to see the corresponding Matchup Calendar and learn the precise date when your favorite saint will be locking horns (not that saints have horns) with his or her next saintly rival.

After today's competition, we will be exactly halfway through the first round. Remember, no voting takes place over the weekend so the next matchup will be Francis of Assisi vs. John Wycliffe on Monday morning. Now go vote!

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